JP2013117783A - Image display unit - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To simplify a procedure associated with a secondary use permission of image data.SOLUTION: A CPU (201) of a projector (200) executes image data transmission source position decision processing when a secondary use request of a projection image is input from a user. A determination is made according to whether or not a PC (100) of an image transmission source belongs to a network segment having the same IP address, or whether or not the same character string as a projection character string is input at the PC (100). If the PC (100) of the image transmission source is at the same location, the CPU (201) stores the projection image in RAM (203). If the PC (100) is not at the same location, the CPU (201) enquires the PC (100) of the secondary use permission. When the permission is obtained from the PC (100), the CPU (201) stores the projection image in the RAM (203).

Description

  The present invention relates to an image display device, and more particularly to an image display device capable of selectively storing a display image.

  Generally, an image display device such as a projector is connected to a personal computer (PC) by a VGA (Video Graphics Array) cable or a DVI (Digital Visual Interface) cable. The PC supplies a digital image signal or an analog image signal to the projector through these cables, and the projector projects and displays a corresponding image. The digital image signal transferred from the PC to the projector is normally uncompressed, and a predetermined timing signal used for image display or the like is also superimposed thereon.

  An increasing number of projectors are connected to a network such as a LAN (Local Area Network). When a PC and a projector are connected via a LAN, the PC that is an image source does not need to be in the same place as the projector, and it is possible to make a presentation from a remote location.

  There is also known a projector that stores a projection screen being projected in an internal storage in accordance with a user request. For such a function, depending on the projection image, it is necessary to ask the transmission source for permission for secondary use such as storage.

  As a conventional technique related to permission for secondary use such as storage and redistribution of distributed data, a technique for requesting a secondary use permission from a distribution server when the distributed data is reused is known. For example, Patent Document 1 describes a technique for requesting a reuse server to reuse a distributed content data and rewriting the number of times content data can be reused.

  Patent Document 2 describes a method of transmitting image data displayed on a projection surface of a projector to a client computer operated by a viewer.

JP 2001-344429 A JP 2004-287160 A

  In the prior art, when a presentation is performed using a projector, if there is a request for secondary use of image data being projected from the audience, it is necessary to request permission from the presenter for each request. It is very annoying for presenters.

  An object of the present invention is to provide an image display device that can simplify the complicated work associated with permission for secondary use of display image data while ensuring security.

  In order to achieve the above object, an image display device according to the present invention includes a communication unit that bidirectionally communicates with an image transmission device, a reception unit that receives image data transmitted from the image transmission device, and the reception Display means for displaying the image data received by the means, determination means for determining whether the image transmitting apparatus is in a place where the display content of the display means can be recognized, and the communication based on the determination result by the determination means Control means for switching whether or not to request the image transmission device to request permission for secondary use of image data via the means.

  According to the present invention, when secondary use of a display image is performed, when the image transmission apparatus is in substantially the same place as the image display apparatus, the permission procedure necessary for secondary use is simplified, As a result, the work associated with permission for secondary use of the display image can be simplified.

It is a network connection diagram of one Example of this invention. It is a schematic block diagram of a present Example. It is a conceptual diagram of the network configuration used in a present Example. It is explanatory drawing of an IP address allocation procedure. It is a control flowchart of a present Example. It is explanatory drawing of GUI of a present Example. It is explanatory drawing of GUI of a present Example. It is explanatory drawing of GUI of a present Example. It is explanatory drawing of GUI of a present Example. It is a flowchart of the position determination using an IP address. It is a conceptual diagram of the network structure which determines a position by character string comparison. It is a network connection diagram of a configuration to which a printer is added. It is a flowchart of position determination by character string comparison. It is an example of a PC side screen in position determination by character string comparison.

  Hereinafter, embodiments of the present invention will be described in detail with reference to the drawings.

  FIG. 1 shows a configuration diagram of an image transfer system in which a PC (personal computer) 100 that is an image transmission apparatus and a projector 200 that is a display apparatus are connected via a network 300. The PC 100 transfers image data of an image to be displayed to the projector 200 via the network 300. The projector 200 projects and displays the transferred image data on a screen (not shown). The PC 100 and the projector 200 can communicate bidirectionally.

  FIG. 2 is a schematic configuration block diagram of the PC 100 and the projector 200. In the present embodiment, the function of each unit will be described by taking as an example a usage in which the projector 200 stores image data being projected and displayed in the RAM 203 which is a built-in storage in accordance with a user request.

  A basic operation of the PC 100 will be described. A CPU 101 controls the overall behavior of the PC 100. Reference numeral 102 denotes a ROM that stores a control program describing the processing procedure of the CPU 101. Reference numeral 103 denotes a RAM that temporarily stores a control program and data as a work memory. Reference numeral 104 denotes a hard disk drive (HDD) that stores programs such as applications and OS (operating system) and data. Reference numeral 105 denotes an encoder that compresses image data.

  Reference numeral 106 denotes a network IF that is an interface for communicating with the projector 200 and the server via a LAN or the like. A user IF 107 processes user input from a keyboard or a pointing device (such as a mouse). Reference numeral 108 denotes a VRAM in which image data of an image to be displayed on the PC 100 is stored. An image processing unit 109 processes the image data read from the VRAM 108. A display control unit 110 controls the display unit 111 based on data received from the image processing unit 109.

  The PC 100 includes an internal bus 112 that connects these elements.

  A basic operation of the projector 200 will be described. A CPU 201 controls the overall behavior of the projector 200. A ROM 202 stores a control program describing the processing procedure of the CPU 201. A RAM 203 temporarily stores a control program and data as a work memory. A decoder 204 decompresses or decodes image data compressed by a predetermined compression method.

  Reference numeral 205 denotes a network IF that is an interface for connecting to the PC 100 via a network. Reference numeral 206 denotes a user IF that receives an operation of the operation key 206a and a user input from the remote control 206c via the remote control light receiving unit 206b. A projection image control unit 207 supplies image data to the projection unit 208 and controls image projection by the projection unit 208. The projection unit 208 includes a liquid crystal panel that displays an image, a drive driver thereof, a projection lens, a drive system thereof, and a light source.

  The projector 200 includes an internal bus 209 that connects these elements.

  FIG. 5 shows a flowchart of operations unique to the present embodiment of the projector 200. The operation shown in FIG. 5 is realized by a program operating on the CPU 201. A program that realizes the operation illustrated in FIG. 5 is executed by the CPU 201 when the projector 200 projects an image of image data transmitted from the PC 100.

  The CPU 201 determines whether or not a request for secondary use of a projection image has been input by the user IF 206 (S501). Such secondary usage requests include storing and printing projection images in the RAM 203. The case of preservation will be described as an example with reference to FIGS. 6a to 6d.

  FIG. 6a shows the relationship between the projection image of the projector 200 and the display image of the PC 100. It is assumed that the user (the operator of the projector 200) gives an instruction to save the projection image using the operation keys 206a or the remote controller 206c of the projector 200. . In response to the save instruction from the user IF 206, the CPU 201 instructs the projection image control unit 207 to display a save process start GUI. FIG. 6a shows this. The projector 200 projects and displays the GUI 14 for allowing the user to select whether or not to save the projection image on the projection surface 13. When the user selects to save the projection screen using the operation key 206a or the remote controller 206c, a save request signal is notified from the user IF 206 to the CPU 201.

  In response to this save request, the CPU 201 executes image data transmission source position determination processing (S502). As a determination method, for example, a table of potential terminal locations is created in advance, and the table is referred to, or whether or not the user belongs to the same network described later. The image data transmission source position determination process is simply a process of determining whether or not the PC 100 as the image transmission source exists at a position where the display content of the projector 200 can be substantially recognized.

  If the installation location of the PC 100 that is the image transmission source is the same as that of the projector 200 based on the determination result in S502, the CPU 201 proceeds to S506. If the installation location of the PC 100 that is the image transmission source is not the same location as the projector 200 (NO in S503), the CPU 201 proceeds to S504.

  If it is not in the same place as the PC 100, the CPU 201 inquires of the PC 100 whether or not the image data currently being projected by the projector 200 may be stored in the RAM 203, that is, permission for secondary use of the image data (S504). Then, the CPU 201 waits for a response from the PC 100 to this inquiry. FIG. 6b shows an example of a projection image of the projector 200 being inquired and a display image of the PC 100. During the inquiry, the projector 200 projects a GUI 15 indicating that the storage permission is requested from the screen transmission source. On the other hand, the PC 100 displays, on the display unit 111, the GUI 16 that allows the operator of the PC 100 to select whether or not to permit storage by the screen transfer application that is operating.

  When the CPU 201 receives a message indicating that secondary use of image data is permitted from the PC 100 (S505), the process proceeds to S506, and when a non-permitted message is received, the process ends. FIG. 6d shows a GUI 18 as an example of a message projected by the projector 200 when the secondary use is rejected. By projecting and displaying the GUI 18, the user who performed the projection image saving request operation is notified of the disapproval.

  When the secondary use permission of the image data is obtained (S505), the CPU 201 acquires the decoded image data expanded in the RAM 203 (S506), and separately stores it in the RAM 203 (S507). Exit. As illustrated in FIG. 6c, the projector 200 projects and displays a GUI 117 of a message indicating that the projection image has been successfully saved, in order to notify the user who has performed the save request operation.

  For example, an IP address can be used for determining the image data transmission source position. A general method for allocating IP addresses to network devices in an IP network will be described with reference to FIGS.

  In the example shown in FIG. 3, an IP address belonging to the network address 192.168.1.0 is assigned to a device placed in RoomA. An IP address belonging to the network address 192.168.2.0 is assigned to a device placed in Room B. A method of managing network devices by dividing subnets in units of rooms or floors as described above is generally performed for the purpose of efficient management and avoiding network congestion.

  In FIG. 3, reference numeral 500 denotes a DHCP (Dynamic Host Configuration Protocol) server that distributes IP addresses and the like to subordinate network devices. A router 600 connects the Room A network and the Room B network. The router 600 has a DHCP relay agent function.

  The DHCP server 500 assigns one of the IP addresses 192.168.1.1 to 192.168.1.252 to the IP address acquisition request from the subnet with the network address 192.168.1.0. However, since the IP addresses 192.168.1.253 and 192.168.1.254 are already used as the IP addresses of the router and the DHCP server, they are excluded from the distribution range. The DHCP server 500 also assigns one of the IP addresses 192.168.2.0 to 192.168.1.253 to the IP address acquisition request from the subnet with the network address 192.168.2.0. Since the IP address 192.168.2.254 is already used as the IP address of the router 600, it is excluded from the distribution range.

  The router 600 relays the subnet with the network address 192.168.1.0 and the subnet with the network address 192.168.2.0.

  FIG. 4 shows a procedure for assigning IP addresses to the PCs 100 and 400. The PC 100 is connected to the RoomA network and is assigned an IP address from the DHCP server 500. The PC 400 is connected to the Room B network and is assigned an IP address from the DHCP server 500.

  First, a procedure for the PC 100 to acquire an IP address will be described. When the PC 100 is connected to the network, in S41, the PC 100 broadcasts a Discovery message for searching for a DHCP server over the entire network. When receiving the Discovery message, the DHCP server 500 transmits an Offer message storing a candidate IP address to be assigned to the PC 100 in S42. The IP address to be assigned at this time is 192.168.1. x is selected from unused. This is because the source of the Discovery message can be determined to be in the same subnet as the DHCP server 500 based on the source information included in this message.

  Upon receiving the Offer message, the PC 100 determines whether there is no problem with the candidate IP address, and sends a Request message in S43 to formally request the DHCP server 500 to acquire the IP address that was the allocation candidate. The DHCP server 500 that has received the Request message transmits an ACK message including an IP address to be allocated to the PC 100, a subnet mask, and an available period of this IP address in S44.

  As described above, an IP address is assigned to the PC 100 by exchanging messages from S41 to S44.

  A procedure by which the PC 200 acquires an IP address will be described. All of the above-mentioned DHCP messages are broadcast, but the broadcast messages reach only devices in the same subnet. As shown in FIG. 3, when the subnets of the PC 400 and the DHCP server 500 are separated, DHCP message communication cannot be performed. In such a situation, the router 600 transfers the received DHCP message to the DHCP server 500. This function is called a DHCP relay agent function.

  When connected to the network, the PC 400 broadcasts a Discovery message as in S41. The router 600 transfers this message to the DHCP server 500 in S46. The DHCP server 500 that has received this message selects a candidate IP address to be assigned to the PC 400. The IP address to be assigned at this time is 192.168.8.2. x is selected from unused. This is because the Discovery message has been transferred from the subnet with the network address 192.168.2.0.

  The DHCP server 500 transmits an Offer message storing the IP address of the allocation candidate. The router 600 transfers the message of the DHCP server 500 to the subnet 192.168.2.0 in S48. When receiving the Offer message, the PC 400 determines whether there is no problem in the same manner, and transmits a Request message, which is a formal acquisition request, in S49. The router 600 transfers this message to the subnet 192.168.1.0 in S50.

  The DHCP server 500 that has received the Offer message of the PC 400 transmits an ACK message indicating completion of assignment in S51. The router 600 transfers this message in S52.

  As described above, an IP address is assigned to the PC 400 by exchanging messages from S45 to S52.

  The IP address is a value indicating the logical position of the network device. However, in general operation, the network administrator manages the network devices by dividing subnets in units of rooms or floors, which can be a reference for determining the relative physical positional relationship of the network devices.

  A method of using an IP address as the image transmission source position determination means will be described with reference to the flowchart shown in FIG. When the position determination process is started, the CPU 201 calculates a network address from the logical product of the IP address and subnet mask set in its own network IF 205 (S701).

  Next, the CPU 201 acquires the IP address and subnet mask of the transmission source PC of the image data being projected by the projector 200 from the transmission source information included in the received image data. Then, the CPU 201 calculates the network address to which the PC belongs as in S701 (S702).

  The CPU 201 compares the network address of the projector 200 acquired in S701 with the network address of the image data transmission source acquired in S702 (S703). As a result of the comparison, if the network addresses are the same (YES in S703), the process proceeds to S704, and if not, the process proceeds to S705.

  In step S704, the CPU 201 determines that the image data transmission source and the projector 200 are in the same place. Conversely, in S705, the CPU 201 determines that the image data transmission source and the projector 200 are not in the same place. Thereby, the position determination process is terminated.

  According to the method described above, in the example shown in FIG. 3, when the user of the projector 200 requests to save the projected image while the projector 200 is projecting and displaying the image data from the PC 100, the saving process is immediately executed. Is done. On the other hand, when there is a request to save the projected image while the projector 200 projects and displays the image data from the PC 400, a procedure for requesting permission to use the image data is performed.

  The method of determining the image data transmission source position based on the IP address cannot be applied when the projector 200 and the PC 450 belong to the same subnet even though they are in different rooms as shown in FIG. . FIG. 10 shows a flowchart of a transmission source position determination method effective in such a situation. The operation based on the flowchart shown in FIG. 10 is realized by a program operating on the CPU 201.

  The CPU 201 waits for the start of image transfer from the PC in the network IF 205 (S1001). When detecting the start of image transfer from the PC, the CPU 201 controls the projection image control unit 207 to display an arbitrary character string for position determination. (S1002) This is, for example, a character string “ABC” as indicated by reference numeral 30 in FIG. Such a character string may be randomly generated or a fixed value stored in the ROM 202 of the projector.

  The CPU 201 transmits a message requesting character string input to the image transmission source PC via the network IF 205 (S1003). The CPU 101 of the PC that is the image transmission source receives the message from the network IF 106. The CPU 101 controls the image processing unit 109 and the display control unit 110 to display a GUI that prompts the display unit 111 to input the same character string as that displayed on the projector 200. An example of this GUI is shown in FIG. The CPU 101 waits for an input from the user IF 107 for a certain period of time, and if there is any character input, notifies the input character string to the projector 200 via the network IF 106. In addition, if there is no input after a predetermined time, a message indicating no input is notified.

  The CPU 201 of the projector monitors the network IF 205 and waits for reception of character string data from the PC. When the character string data is received, the CPU 201 compares the received character string with the character string displayed on the projection surface by the CPU 201 (S1004). If they match (YES in S1004), the process proceeds to S1005, and if they do not match (NO in S1004), the process proceeds to S1006. Also, when there is no character string input from the PC for a certain time, the process proceeds to S1006.

  In step S1005, the CPU 201 determines that the image data transmission source and the projector 200 are in the same place. On the other hand, in S1006, the CPU 201 determines that the image data transmission source and the projector 200 are not in the same place. Thereby, the position determination process is terminated.

  A specific example will be described for the situation shown in FIG. Assume that the PC 100 transmits image data to be projected to the projector 200 and the projector 200 is projecting the image data. In this situation, since the operator of the PC 100 can visually recognize the projection plane, the character string projected for position determination can be correctly input. On the other hand, since the operator of the PC 400 is not in a position where the projection plane can be visually recognized, the character string for position determination cannot be input correctly. As a result, the PC 100 is determined to be at the same position as the projector 200, and the PC 400 is determined to be at a position different from the projector 200.

  By applying such a position determination method using the position determination character string to step S502, the position of the image data transmission source can be determined even in the situation shown in FIG. The position determination process described in FIG. 10 may be performed only once for each PC at the timing when image transfer from the PC is started, and only the result may be referred to in S502.

  According to the method described above, the permission operation can be simplified when the presenter and the user who desires the secondary use of the data are in the same place where the negotiation for permission of the secondary use can be made orally. .

  Although the embodiment has been described in which the projector stores the image data being projected and displayed, the present invention can also be applied to the case where the image data being projected and displayed by the projector is transferred to an external printing apparatus and printed according to a user request. FIG. 9 is a schematic configuration diagram showing such a situation. The projector 200, the PC 100, and the printing apparatus 700 are connected via the network 300. Similar to the first embodiment, the projector 200 receives and projects the image data transmitted from the PC 100 via the network. When printing of a projection image is instructed by a user request, the projector 200 transfers image data being projected to the printing apparatus 700, and the printing apparatus 700 prints this.

  In this case, in step S507 of the flowchart shown in FIG. 5, instead of saving the image data acquired in step S506, the image data is transferred to the printing apparatus 700 to be printed.

  In general, when image data is transmitted from a PC to a projector via a network, the amount of transmission data is reduced using, for example, irreversible compression such as JPEG compression. This is because the image data of the PC before compression is larger than the bandwidth that can be used by a general network, and the image quality / frame rate of the projected image is not sufficient unless compression processing is performed. In addition to the compression process, a process of resizing the PC screen data in accordance with the resolution that can be displayed by the projector is also generally performed.

  In such a case, if the projection image data is printed based on the image data held on the projector side, an image deteriorated by the compression process is printed. This problem can be solved as follows. That is, after permission is obtained in S505 in FIG. 5, the CPU 201 of the projector 200 requests the PC 100 to retransmit the image data without compression. The CPU 201 of the projector 200 that has received the uncompressed image data transfers the uncompressed image data to the printing apparatus 700.

  Note that the CPU 201 of the projector 200 may instruct the PC 100 to transfer the uncompressed image data directly to the printing apparatus 700 in response to the permission in S505 of FIG.

  Although an embodiment has been described in which a computer is used as an image data transmission source device, a projector is used as an image data display device, and a printing device is transmitted and printed as an example of secondary use of image data. For example, the image transmission source device may be any device that can transmit image data, such as a mobile phone, a camera, a smartphone, and a storage device. The image display device may be any device that can receive and display image data, such as a television, a monitor, a mobile phone, and a smartphone. The printing apparatus is an example of an external information device.

  The secondary use of the image data may be a use in which the image data is transmitted to another computer, a mobile phone, or a smartphone to be stored and displayed. That is, the present invention can be applied not only to storage and printing, but also to redistribution of image data.

  As mentioned above, although the preferable Example of this invention was described, this invention is not limited to these Examples, A various deformation | transformation and change are possible within the range of the summary.

Claims (6)

A communication means for bidirectionally communicating with the image transmission device;
Receiving means for receiving image data transmitted from the image transmitting device;
Display means for displaying an image of the image data received by the receiving means;
Determination means for determining whether or not the image transmission apparatus is in a place where the display content of the display means can be recognized;
An image display apparatus comprising: control means for switching whether or not the image transmission apparatus is requested to permit secondary use of image data via the communication means based on a determination result by the determination means. The communication means can communicate with an external information device bidirectionally,
The said control means makes the said external information apparatus transmit the image data of the image used as the object of the said secondary usage permission to the said external information apparatus via the said communication means, when there is the said secondary usage permission. 2. The image display device according to 1. The communication means can communicate with an external information device bidirectionally,
When the secondary usage permission is granted, the control means requests the image transmission device to send image data of an image subject to the secondary usage permission to the external information device. The image display device according to claim 1.   The image display apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the determination unit performs the determination using an IP address.   4. The determination unit according to claim 1, wherein the determination unit performs the determination based on whether the same character string as the character string displayed on the display unit is transmitted from the image transmission apparatus. 5. Image display device.   The image display apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the secondary usage permission is any one of printing, storage, and redistribution.

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